The rapid growth in mobile phone penetration globally has created new opportunities for using mobile phone data (MPD) in official statistics, providing insights into population mobility, disaster and emergency response, tourism, migration and in information society monitoring. MPD presents unique benefits for real-time data collection, enhancing the ability of national statistical offices (NSOs) to provide timely and disaggregated statistics at high spatial and temporal granularity. Recognizing this potential, the United Nations Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UN-CEBD) Task Team on MPD has been working together since 2017 to explore the applications of MPD as critical resource for strengthening official statistics systems.

Aligned with the mandate of the UN Statistical Commission, the UN-CEBD's mission includes supporting NSOs in adopting and integrating innovative data sources such as MPD. The MPD Task Team (TT-MPD) is formed to promote best practices, facilitate collaboration, and establish standards that ensure the ethical, safe, and high-quality use of MPD in official statistics (see the Terms of Reference of the Task Team).

Given the technical, ethical, and operational challenges in using MPD, TT-MPD aims to bridge gaps in knowledge, standardize approaches, and address critical issues around data privacy and data quality. By fostering international cooperation and providing targeted support to NSOs, TT-MPD supports the responsible use of MPD in official statistics, by developing Guidelines outlining methodologies and best practices.